An appreciation by Mason Taylor lead singer from the band a'tris.
Friday evening I met up with Brooke McGowan, a photographer friend of mine, at the Abigail Adams Auditorium in NYC for a fantastic evening of Scottish festivities courtesy of the New York Caledonian Club. The Caledonian Club was established in 1856 and promotes the musical, literary, and social heritage of Scottish culture. I had the pleasure of meeting the Chieftain, George Campbell, at show a week or so ago and he kindly invited me to come as his guest. For those of you who don’t know, a ceilidh, pronounced, ‘KAY-lee,’ is Gaelic for “a singing, feasting, dancing, rather boisterous good-time!” And I’m not making that up, I took it from the Caledonian Club's website. That description, by the way, is entirely accurate. After poking around the room with Brooke for a bit and enjoying some fantastic Scottish food, the evening’s events began with a procession of bag pipers followed by a special performance of Robert Burns' "Address to a Haggis."
As the actor brought Burn’s poem to life, he raised a knife and stabbed it into the Haggis while uttering this verse:
“His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;And then,
O what a glorious sight,Warm-reekin, rich!”
It was pretty dramatic stuff and it really kicked off the night.
The best part of the evening by far, though, was Mike Ogletree’s performance. Mike made a name for himself by performing with Scottish bands Simple Minds and Fiction Factory. If those bands’ names don’t sound familiar to you, give them a Google and I bet you’ll be familiar with their work. These days, Mike is setting out with his acoustic guitar, on a mission to educate the world about the poet, Burns, his times, and his message.
Hope this finds you feeling healthy!
Mason
As the actor brought Burn’s poem to life, he raised a knife and stabbed it into the Haggis while uttering this verse:
“His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An’ cut you up wi’ ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;And then,
O what a glorious sight,Warm-reekin, rich!”
It was pretty dramatic stuff and it really kicked off the night.
The best part of the evening by far, though, was Mike Ogletree’s performance. Mike made a name for himself by performing with Scottish bands Simple Minds and Fiction Factory. If those bands’ names don’t sound familiar to you, give them a Google and I bet you’ll be familiar with their work. These days, Mike is setting out with his acoustic guitar, on a mission to educate the world about the poet, Burns, his times, and his message.
Hope this finds you feeling healthy!
Mason
